LETI: Ideas for the Future Energy Sector at LETI Conference
On December 10-11, LETI hosted the first international conference “Energy Agenda for the Future: Young Engineers for Fuel and Energy Sector.” The event had interdisciplinary agenda with a focus on power electronics and energy-efficient technologies.
EAF-2021 aroused great interest among representatives of universities and energy companies. More than 270 researchers from Russia, Denmark, Canada, Poland, China, Finland, Brazil, and other countries participated.
Day 1
At the plenary session, Viktor Tupik, Vice-Rector for Research at LETI, opened the conference with a greeting speech.
“Almost the entire history of LETI, which celebrated its 135th anniversary this year, has been related to energy issues. Today, the efficient energy industry of the future is one of the most discussed topics. It covers a wide range of scientific, technological, engineering, and social issues. I am very glad that the focus of this conference is on young and talented engineers, researchers, and managers – all those who are discussing the agenda of the future today and will implement it tomorrow.”
Viktor Tupik, Vice-Rector for Research at LETI
Natalya Trifonova, Executive Director of the Conference Organizing Committee, Acting Director of the Institute of Innovative Design and Technological Entrepreneurship (INPROTECH) at LETI, told about the origin of the conference: “LETI team, as co-organizer of two conferences in the past, suggested changing the key idea of the event and uniting young people from academic and business communities around the future energy agenda, inviting leading world scientists and researchers. The main goal of the conference is to present the vision of the youth audience, the various directions of research, the areas of interest of the participants, and draw attention to the development of new energy and the problems of the energy transition.”
According to Artem Korolev, Director of the Reliable Change Foundation, the conference gives an opportunity to communicate with international scientists for young people and demonstrate their innovation potential for businesses.
Stanislav Eroshenko, Vice-President of the CIGRE Next Generation Network, invited the conference participants to become CIGRE members and emphasized how essential cooperation between science and business representatives is for solving urgent problems.
One of the highlights of the plenary session was the speech by Frede Blaabjerg, Chair of the Conference Organizing Committee, Professor at the University of Aalborg, Denmark.
“We have a big challenge for the future – creating a sustainable society on Earth. This conference is of great importance to the energy community. It is a place to share new ideas, network between different groups around the world. I want to highlight the importance of thinking across disciplines. We need to think not only about electrical engineering but use our knowledge to invent smart solutions. I have high hopes for the younger generation.”
Frede Blaabjerg, Chair of the Conference Organizing Committee, Professor at the University of Aalborg, Denmark
Federico Rosei, Co-Chair of the Organizing Committee, Professor at Institut National de la Recherche Scientifique (Canada), quoted Nelson Mandela: “Education is the most powerful weapon you can use to change the world.”
During the plenary session, there were eight presentations. In the conference keynote on “Active Power Control of Smart Photovoltaic Systems for Grid Support,” Professor Yongheng Yang of Zhejiang University (China) pointed out that the need for renewable energy is increasing exponentially. According to him, it is necessary to gain fine control of photovoltaic systems.
Darya Podmetina, Associate Professor at LUT (Finland), shared her successful teaching experience in innovation and technology for sustainability. Robert Szydło, Research Assistant at Krakow University of Economics, presented the results of his research team’s study on “Employer Expectations Towards Competencies on the Energy Market in Poland.” Colleagues concluded that soft skills are the most in-demand.
Ilyas Abdulkhakov, Assistant Professor of the Department of Electrical Engineering and Transformation Technology at LETI, made a presentation “Nonlinear distortion of the input current of the active power factor corrector based on the Vienna rectifier.” Along with the technical aspects of the study, he presented the practical experience of organizing the electromagnetic compatibility and application of high-power radio transmitters.
Alexander Zhdanov and Artem Zubritsky (“Gazpromneft” PJSC, “Noyabrskneftegaz” LLC) spoke about the project, which allows developing professional competencies of young people, helping university graduates decide on their future profession and work on projects more effectively by creating cross-disciplinary teams.
Dmitry Rossikhin, a representative of FGC UES, noted that 2022 brings a new global trend in energy development: any generation – wind, solar, or hydro – should be continuously connected with the parallel accumulation of energy. For the successful development of the storage market in Russia, it is necessary to make additions to the existing legal framework regulating the production, storage, transmission, and distribution of electric power.
Yury Bulatov, Acting Head of the Department of Power Engineering at Bratsk State University, presented a cyber-physical approach to managing railway power supply systems. The plenary session was concluded by Andrey Svetkin, Deputy Head of the Production Department of Zarubezhneft JSC, with the report “Conceptual model of catalytic desulfurization of associated petroleum gas.”
In the sections “Energy-Efficient Solutions and Engineering Systems” and “Digital Transformation of Energy Companies,” participants made 25 presentations. The topics related to the energy efficiency of electric machines, application of wind turbines and solar panels, modernization of power plants, and automation of power networks caused the most active discussion. The report by Marcelo Augusto Leal Alves, Professor at the University of Sao Paulo (Brazil), on energy perspectives for the automotive sector in Brazil attracted particular attention.
As part of the conference, Anastasia Minina, Vice-Rector for International Affairs at LETI, met with representatives of Zarubezhneft oil company. The delegation was interested in the university’s developments in renewable energy sources, application of artificial intelligence in geological exploration, telecommunication technologies for offshore fields, as well as the possibility of training personnel for projects in Vietnam.
Day 2
The second day of the conference began with a greeting speech by Konstantin Suslov, Guest Editor of the Organizing Committee, Head of Study Committee C1 “System Development and Economics” of Russian National Committee CIGRE. He stressed the importance of having a discussion platform where new joint projects can emerge.
It was followed by the section “Economy and New Energy Markets in Transition. Personnel of the Industry”, which brought together more than 110 participants. The topics of the 22 presentations covered renewable energy, the transition to a circular economy, and sustainability.
Within the section “Energy Efficient Solutions and Engineering Systems,” young engineers proposed developments in the field of power transmission, monitoring the condition of equipment, and increasing the efficiency of alternative energy sources.
Another important event was the seminar “New Challenges in Energy Company Development. Rosatom’s Experience.” The event brought together participants of the project “Russian Nuclear Education Ambassadors” – international students studying at one of Rosatom’s partner universities. They presented research on the use of atomic energy in various spheres in Russia and foreign countries and developed a pool of directions for cooperation.
At the end of the sections, there was a closing ceremony. Natalya Trifonova addressed the participants.
“We consider the conference a success and its topics are extremely important for the development of Russian and world science. It is worth noting a significant contribution of the conference to the development of the latest achievements of energy and its socio-economic applications”.
Natalya Trifonova, Acting Director of INPROTECH at LETI
Konstantin Suslov emphasized the prospect of attracting more international experts to participate in the conference and expanding the program committee for a more thorough review of the reports sent for publication. The organizers announced their intention to discuss the most important directions of world energy development next year at EAF-2022.